Speaking of Radio

Chuck Schaden's Conversations with the Stars Who Made it Golden

Those Were the Days Encore

We invite you to listen to a complete 4-hour program from the 39-year run of Those Were The Days (1970—2009) hosted by Radio Hall of Famer Chuck Schaden. The encore programs that run on this page are exactly as first broadcast over the air. They contain vintage radio shows, special guests and commercials and messages as originally presented on WLTD, Evanston (May 2, 1970 thru July 31, 1975); on WNIB, Chicago (September 6, 1975 thru February 10, 2001) and on WDCB, DuPage County (February 3, 2001 thru June 27, 2009). Encores are selected by us and are available on demand 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. Program selections are added every week on Wednesday, 9a.m. Central Time.

Be sure to visit our Archives of TWTD Encores. If you're a subscriber to this website, we'll keep you posted. (See our Home Page to subscribe, free.) Thanks for listening.

VARIETY OF PROGRAMS

Originally broadcast on WNIB
Saturday, May 22, 1993

THE BIG SHOW (4-8-51) Tallulah Bankhead is emcee for the last big variety series on radio. From New York, she welcomes guests Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa, Jimmy Durante, Vivian Blaine, Jane Morgan and Rudy Vallee.

WORLD NEWS TODAY (5-23-43) WW II news:  “Japanese bombers have made an unsuccessful attack on American warships off Attu in the Aleutians.”

FIBBER MC GEE AND MOLLY (4-13-43) Fibber’s Uncle Sycamore is going to be on the radio.  WW II flavor.

SUSPENSE (1-13-49) “Too Perfect Alibi” starring Danny Kaye as a murderer who has 35 people say he could not have been at the scene of the crime..

Updated: 5/22/13            9:10 am C.S.T.

“BOB HOPE’S 90TH BIRTHDAY! ” – 5/29/1993
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14 Comments

14 Comments
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  1. Jim says... comment left on June 5, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    This site is great, it brings back what I enjoyed listening to every Saturday at 1pm. Thanks Chuck! I’ll be a returning visitor.

  2. Rob McNamara says... comment left on June 28, 2011 at 2:39 pm

    I am so happy to be able to hear Chuck’s shows again. Just listening to the first rerun made me remember what a great guy he is with a really funny scene of humor he had. The begining of the theme music show with Ken playing the wrong theme over and over was so funny! What a great team he had with Ken Alexander. How often will new reruns be on. The first one has been on for a couple of weeks now. I need a new Chuck fix.

  3. C Demas says... comment left on July 6, 2011 at 11:52 am

    Chuck –

    Its wonderful to hear your voice and anecdotes/memories of the golden days of radio again.

    I know you didn’t say you’re looking for requests for future programs, but I’ll try some anyway :-)

    1. In the 1970′s, one Saturday TWTD fell on Christmas Eve, and I distinctly remember listening to the normal 4-hour show, and being very presently surprised to hear you extend the show an extra 2 hours (between 5-7 PM);

    2. I went to college out of the area in the early 1990′s and missed your retrospective on WWII. Would you consider adding some of those recordings to the TWTD Encore playlist?

    Again, thanks so much for setting up this site!

    Chris

  4. Chuck says... comment left on July 6, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    Chris, — I’m not sure about repeating the 6-hour Christmas show, but we’ll be beginning our WW II retrospective all over again in December, 2011 — the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. — Chuck

  5. Chuck Jackson says... comment left on July 28, 2011 at 8:24 pm

    Chuck,

    I have listened to you off and on since your WLTD days when I was stationed at Fort Sheridan. Whenever I returned to the Chicago area for however long I looked up TWTD. The Internet changed all of that and so from Seoul, to Baghdad to Munich I have been able to “tune in”.

    Thanks for your interest in the medium and keeping it alive for the rest of us – young and old. Speaking of Radio is the perfect encore – it is so good to hear you again.

  6. Jennifer says... comment left on October 6, 2011 at 9:34 am

    I didn’t realize that the John Brown spotlight show was done the week that George Burns died. I was caught off guard when I heard you telling of George’s passing. I did remember listening to the show and the emotion that could be heard in your voice. Brings back memories of that day – loved hearing his version of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” again :) I also realized how much I miss those “Metro Golden Memories” commercials – and the store!

  7. Kristin says... comment left on November 18, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    I have been listening to your radio show since I was a young child with my father. We would fall asleep listening to the great radio shows. I’m 29 now, with a child of my own and am so happy to find this website so I can carry on this tradition!

    It’s a comfort to hear your voice, Chuck. Thank YOU for the memories!

  8. Bonnie says... comment left on December 3, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    Hi Chuck,
    Listener since 1981. Followed you around the dial and introduced my then 4 year old daughter to “Old Time” through you. She has been a fan ever since and is sharing with her 4 year old now via the Cinnamon Bear. So happy to have ‘found’ you again. Love listening to the rebroadcasts. Many great memories. Thanks Thanks Thanks for sharing.

  9. Bill Urschel says... comment left on December 7, 2011 at 9:07 am

    Chuck, this is not my first E-mail to you, the first was back in 97 or so when the Internet was relatively new to most of us. Of course, I’m another longterm listener, from your first broadcast (goodness, the quality of the recordings certainly improved over the years!) until I left Chicagoland in April of 73, and then again much later after I found out about your Internet transmitted programs/broadcasts. As with all others (if its not all, something is radically wrong with them!) I and my brother Dan, who still resides in the Chicagoland area and heard your broadcasts forever, are sooooo grateful for you interest, dedication, and efforts. What more can be said – thank you very much.

  10. Jim Giustino says... comment left on December 20, 2011 at 11:41 am

    Hi Chuck,
    While I’m not old enough to remember listening to these great shows when they originally aired,I do remember spending so many Saturday afternoons
    listening to your TWTD broadcasts back then, and falling in love with “old time radio”. Even more enjoyable is to be able to hear them in the context of the whole broadcast, with the inclusion of your narration and comments,the banter with Ken, and even the station breaks and commercials. In particular though,the concept of following the war timeline in a “real- time” sense was such a wonderful idea. You’re choice of shows and news related material really helps transport one back to those times, and to my mind, brings these TWTD broadcasts to a level equally as praise-worthy and special as the individual shows themselves. Thank you for helping create my own special memories back then, and the chance to enjoy them again. Think I need to go dig up my old copies of Nostalgia Digest to really complete the experience. Thank you ever so much, Jim

  11. Tim Murtaugh says... comment left on January 19, 2012 at 1:14 pm

    Somewhere, I still have a record album of a Fred Allen Show from Christmas Day, 1932. The comedy skit is almost 80 years old, yet just as funny now as then. That says a lot for the writers.

  12. Anonymous says... comment left on March 5, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    Is it correct that the [Those Were The Days] show was on 2 stations for 2 weeks? February 3rd and 10th, according to the note regarding the archives.

    COMMENT FROM CHUCK: Yes. When WNIB was about to close (after being sold) we moved to WDCB and did a simulcast of our first two Those Were The Days programs on both WDCB and WNIB in order to help listeners find our new station.

  13. Anonymous says... comment left on May 17, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    Recently, an “Inner Sanctum” show entitled “Death Demon” gave the broadcast date of July 19, 1948. Checking a reliable website that offers free listening to this and other “old time” radio shows, it was listed as July FIFTH of that year. As there was a commercial for Bromo Seltzer mentioning the Fourth of July, it does seem like the air date would be closer to the holiday.

  14. Chuck says... comment left on May 18, 2012 at 9:50 am

    COMMENT FROM CHUCK: You are right. The correct date of this Inner Sanctum program, as played on “Those Were The Days” May 16, 1992, is July 5, 1948.